


invincible

by dantes_wombat



Series: Malec prompt fills [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 08:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15945587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dantes_wombat/pseuds/dantes_wombat
Summary: Alec and Magnus are impressive in a fight, even more so when they fight together - but that doesn't mean they never get hurt.





	invincible

**Author's Note:**

> First title in a series of prompt fills - still short, but hopefully getting longer and more elaborate in time. Also my first time writing Malec. Prompt "Don't hide from me when you get hurt" provided by my bff, the wonderful [ThymekeNerada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThymekeNerada). Thank you, hon!

Nephilim and Warlocks battling demons together hasn’t been known to happen very often – a historical fact that seems quite nonsensical to anyone witnessing what Alec and Magnus can do together. 

Strictly speaking, they should both avoid close-range combat. Alec is lethal with a blade but it’s nothing compared to what he can do with a bow and some arrows, while Magnus excels at the occasional ball of warlock fire and defensive magic. They should need a skilled melee fighter to keep any demon getting too close at bay. 

So far, nothing has ever managed to get too close. 

Where before Alec had always been on some vantage point at the outskirts of battle, securing the perimeter and taking out threats to his teammates with carefully aimed arrows that never missed their mark, he’s now in the thick of it. Surrounded by a swirling circle of protective blue flames, he and Magnus now make up the impenetrable centre of the battlefield, raining down a destructive mixture of demonic fire and adamant arrows on their enemies. As long as Alec and Magnus are standing, their party cannot lose. The demons seem to know it, too, and keep throwing themselves at them in a way that makes it easy for Isabelle, Jace and the rest to pick off those that remain. 

It’s the most efficient they’ve ever been while hunting. And while Magnus has a day job and a reputation to maintain that keep him from joining Shadowhunter missions too often, he insists on staying at his boyfriend’s side whenever Alec is suddenly called away. Somewhere deep down, they’re probably both aware that they enjoy it a bit too much – the heady rush of anticipating each other’s every move, of deadly synchronicity, of simply letting go. 

Alec knows that he himself is not invulnerable, far from it; no demon hunt goes by without at least some scratches and bruises, though rarely something an _Iratze_ couldn’t fix. His ever-growing collection of scars is a testimony to deeper wounds, a testimony that all Shadowhunters share. Magnus’ skin, on the other hand, is flawless, all traces of former hurts vanished by the touch of his own magic or others’. When he fights, Magnus is an awe-inspiring vision – fast and graceful, cat-eyes blazing golden, his raw power masterfully controlled but unleashed in the blink of an eye if danger approaches those standing beside him. 

Which is exactly why at some point, Alec has mostly stopped being too worried about Magnus in battle. Not an easy step for someone whose defining characteristic is worrying about his loved ones, but when they're back to back and he can feel the strength emanating from his lover's body, it's hard to feel anything but invincible. 

 

~

 

Their latest mission had been different, and not in a good way. While Valentine is gone and the Shadow World on its way to back to peace and strengthened collaboration in the aftermath, single cells of fanatics keep popping up and try to spread unrest. Always on their heels come the deformed shapes of demons, altered and tamed in a network of hidden laboratories. 

Three hours later, Alec is still flat on the sofa, feeling sore all over. It’s been awhile since Magnus excused himself to the bathroom, and the loft’s been eerily silent since the water stopped running about twenty minutes ago. Getting up is still out of the question though, at least until the Chairman jumps up next to him and curls up into a dark, fluffy ball. Shaken out of the light doze he was dropping into, Alec decides to finally get up and investigate. 

With soundless steps, he walks towards the slightly ajar bedroom door. For a moment, he can barely believe what he sees in there.

Magnus is in front of the high mirror, shirtless. His face is clean of make-up and his hair is falling into his face, soft and still damp after the much-needed shower that washed off all the sweat and blood and demon ichor. So far, this is part of their usual after-mission routine. What shocks Alec is what Magnus seems to be inspecting in the mirror, head bent over his left shoulder: a barely closed gash surrounded by discoloured skin right on his back. 

Alec’s sharp intake of breath is loud in the otherwise silent room, and Magnus jerks around towards him, looking caught. It only takes him an instant to school his features into that neutral, bland smile that Alec has learned to recognize as fake. 

“Alexander,” he says pleasantly, not an ounce of discomfort in his voice, “ready to go to bed?” 

Alec steps closer, ignoring the question. “That wound on your back – when did that happen? And why hasn’t it healed? You must’ve closed it with magic.”

Magnus looks tempted to deny the existence of any wound, the well practised mask still in place, until he drops it with a sigh. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to reply, but by now he also knows that Alec won’t back down until he gets an honest answer. 

“It happened right when we were jumped by those would-be Circle members. I was grazed by a Seraph blade – it wasn’t – isn’t serious!” he adds hastily as Alec blanches. 

Alec usually tries to avoid thinking about what his own weapons could do to the man he loves. What they have already done to other Downworlders. He’s right in front of Magnus now, instinctively taking his hand and moving a thumb over the rings the warlock never seems to take off, not even at night. Magnus would never hesitate to fall back behind Alec and his team if he were truly in danger, Alec is sure of it; nevertheless, this is a nasty reminder that they’ve grown overconfident, too convinced that their combined skills make them untouchable. It’s about trust, and his own failure to shield Magnus from harm. 

“I...I’m sorry I didn’t notice, but-” As expected, Magnus waves his apology off impatiently, but Alec isn’t finished. “Why would you try to hide it?”

Alec is aware that Magnus’ make-up and flashy outfits are not simply expressions of his personality, but also act as a shield, a front that makes others see the High Warlock of Brooklyn instead of a person who needs to cope with 400 years of heartbreaks and crippling periods of loneliness. To Alec, he has never looked more vulnerable than he does right now, with this open and slightly ashamed expression on his bare face. 

Magnus hesitates, eyes dropping.

“I see how you look at me when I fight,” he eventually says in a small voice. “I know how much you love it when I’m powerful enough to burn a bunch of demons down to ashes.”

The look on Alec’s face must be as incredulous as he feels, because Magnus only meets his eyes for a fraction of a second before moving as if he means to put some distance between them. Alec’s hand moves up to his cheek immediately. There’s no resistance when he turns Magnus’ face back towards him. 

“If you know me so well, you must also know how much I hate seeing the people I love get hurt. How much I want to take care of them, protect them...how much I enjoy sharing my strength with you, whenever you need it.”

He’s cupping Magnus’ face in both hands now, a gesture he loves for its intimacy, the way he can softly trace his lover’s cheekbones with his fingers. Magnus always looks slightly broken when he does it, completely disarmed, but at least he’s listening to Alec now, really listening. 

“You don’t have to be that untouchable warlock all the time. You’ve patched me up so often, you’ve saved my life more times than I can count...you’re allowed to need help sometimes, too.”

Magnus’ arms come up around Alec’s shoulders, his eyes brimming over with emotion, so Alec draws him in, lets him hide his face against the rune covering his neck. He brushes his fingers carefully through the shorter hair at the back of Magnus’ head, lips close to his ear. 

“Never hide from me when you get hurt...okay?”

He feels the whispered “okay” against his neck more than he can hear it, but it is enough.


End file.
